When you are trying to use measuring cups to measure an ingredient, it pays to be careful. The truth is that there are many differences between measuring cups. To start off, in the United States the cup is different than one that is used in the United Kingdom. And if this wasn’t enough to create some confusion, the truth is that you should use different measuring cups depending on whether you are trying to measure a liquid ingredient or a dry ingredient.
Looking to convert 8 ounces to milliliters?
One of the things that you need to keep in mind is that in the United States, the volume can be measured using cups. The reality is that you can use measuring cups to measure a wide variety of ingredients including flour, butter, and even sugar.
A pound of flour is always a pound of flour, whether sifted or not, but this is not so for a cup of flour. If you take a cup of flour and sift it and put it back in the cup, you will now have more than a cup of flour because the added air in the flour will have increased the volume of it. Another example is a cup of walnuts: whole, halved, chopped, and ground will all yield a different weight of walnuts.
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Dry Measuring Cups
In the United States, there are specific cups to measure dry and liquid ingredients. And in case you are learning how to cook, most cooking instructors will tell you that you need to buy both.
The truth is that it may be a bit difficult to determine if you are buying a dry measuring cup or a liquid measuring cup. The only difference between the two tends to rely only on the rims. If you notice, liquid measuring cups tend to have a pour spout on them while the dry ones don’t. And the reason is pretty simple. Dry measuring cups aren’t meant to be filled right up to their rim. And this is why most of these cups tend to look like large measuring spoon sets. Besides, these tend to have straight sides, flat bottoms, and flat narrow rims.
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The main idea about dry measuring cups is that you take a knife and whoosh it across the top to level it off. The best measuring cups on the market tend to have the measurement both on the handle, and on the back. This way, if you hang them up, you can easily see the measurement on the back for quick access.
It is worth to mention that if these dry measuring cups have heavy handles, they may be difficult to handle.
Liquid Measuring Cups
As we already mentioned, liquid measurement cups come with a pour spout. Besides, some of these cups have enclosed handles. This way, you can hang them from hooks for easy storage.
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Notice that most dry measuring cups tend to be made of plastic or glass and they usually have the measurements marked off at the sides.
To ensure that you can accurately measure your dry liquids, you need to make sure that you raise your dry measuring cup up to the eye level or simply crouch down to its level on the counter. You should be able to see that the top measurement line is always a bit down from the rim. This way, you will be able to measure the full amount without spilling over the edges.